Announcement: Prolouged
by Ben540
Summary: Sometimes, things just don't seem to work out so well. Fox McCloud's life, although full of loss, is going perfectly. He got the girl, he won the war, and he gained fame. But what happens, when it all starts to break down? One-shot. R&R, enjoy.


**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN "STAR FOX" OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE SONGS AND OR QUOTES! BOTH "STAR FOX" AND THE SONGS/QUOETS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTED OWNERS. "STAR FOX" BELONGS TO NINTENDO. THE ONLY THINGS I OWN ARE THE PLOT/STORY. I DO NOT CLAIM ANYTHING ELSE AS MY OWN.**

**Author's Note:**

**I'm keeping this rated T, so don't expect detail in some sections.**

**The short prologue that leads into Announcement.**

**WARNING NOT A NORMAL ONE-SHOT, this story contains three parts comprised into one chapter, so it is longer than some one-shots out there. It also is just the prologue to a second one-shot, so it ends sort of abruptly. You have been warned. **

**With further adieu, I changed a few things from the time line that we all know during Star Fox: Assault. That includes a few casualties of the war. The parts will be pretty short. Enjoy **

**Announcement - Prologued**

**Part 1 – Hey, hey, hey. Goodbye - "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam.**

Fox McCloud stood in front of a fogged up mirror. White tile surrounding him, changing the scene of the dull metal walls of the Great Fox to the ugly white of the bathroom tile. It's been a week after the war against the Aparoids, and the Star Fox team was getting some much needed rest. Fox, being the leader of the team, along with the one who fought the most in the war, looked tired and worn-out. He was only twenty-three but his battle scars and tired look made him seem older than he was. Not in his face or body, but in his eyes. He has witnessed more than any should; and the images plaguing his mind made him act strict and cold in the line of duty. The lives that were lost scarred his memories, many of the animals who died were not just soldiers he got along with, but close friends. A few of the deaths included: General Pepper, Bill Gray, and, sadly, Peppy Hare. They were all part of a special spot in his heart, Pepper was like a grandfather, Peppy a father, and Bill a brother. Fox tried to put the deaths in a 'they were fighting to defend their home, and they were part of the necessary loses to win the war' type scenario. However, he just couldn't convince himself. One conclusion he did find true, though, was that war sucked. The chestnut furred vulpine sighed and continued to stare at himself in the mirror. The white spot of fur on his head was messy and tangled, and dark circles around his eyes showed through his fur. He wasn't happy about what he was about to do, especially so because he knew it would blow up in his face, and he hadn't had a good nights sleep since before the war. He always thought things through to the end, taking his time to think of multiple endings to the scenario, "Why can't I be more like Falco and not think so much?" he asked his reflection, pushing the palms of his hands into his eyes. "All this thinking is giving me such a bad headache," he groaned. Fuming, he left his small bathroom, a towel around his waist. His room was a mess, clothing scattered across the floor, his bed unmade and messy, the old desk next to his bed falling apart. "The day they give us a decent paycheck is the day that a worm crawls out of my ass," he mumbled, scanning the ground for something decent to wear. He picked up numerous teeshirts that varied in all colors, only to be instantly repulsed by the strong unwashed odor they gave off. His face involuntarily cringed and twisted at the smell, and he decided to look for some pants instead. Not his best idea. The pants on his floor gave the same unwashed odor as the shirts, making him growl in frustration. "Is it really that hard to find some clean clothes?" the vulpine continued his search until there was a knock on the door, "Yeah?"

"It's Falco, the robot gave me your laundry," the voice said.

The vulpine let out a sigh of relief, something clean to wear, "Thanks, just leave it by the door for me?"

"Uh-huh," Falco replied, dropping the clothes in front of his door, "Oh, dude, I almost forgot. Krystal's been looking for you."

"Yeah, I know, tell her to just meet me in the docking bay, please?" Fox called from inside the room.

"Sure, oh and by the way, clean your room. It's a dump in there. Coming from me, that's pretty bad," Falco laughed, walking down the hall.

"How's he know that my room is a dump?" Fox mulled, scratching the back of his neck. He sighed and opened his door to get his clothes, only to realize that Falco was standing in front of him with a camera. Before the poor, half-nude, vulpine could react, the small device flashed in his eyes.

"I'm going to be so rich," Falco laughed, looking to the picture he took on the screen of the small device.

"Dammit Falco! Why don't you just take a picture of yourself?" Fox shouted, blinking a few times to try and rid his eyes of the large purple spot looming in front of them.

"You have a bigger fan base," he said, smiling.

"And that doesn't bother you?" Fox retorted.

"You have a bigger fan base because you're dating Krystal," Falco shrugged.

"Yeah? Well my fan base is about to get a lot smaller," Fox said, grabbing his clothes from the ground.

Falco's eyes opened wide, "You're not serious?"

"Aren't I?" Fox replied, slamming his door in Falco's beak.

Falco didn't stop the conversation, though, "Fox no! Man what the hell? Just like that, you're gonna dump her?"

Fox sighed, putting on the first clean shirt in the pile, a long sleeved green shirt, "Yes, just like that."

Falco pushed on, "Why?"

The vulpine untied the towel from his waist, letting it fall to his ankles before slipping on a pair of boxers, "Her skills are slipping."

"That's a lie! I've seen her scores, Fox, she rivals both you and me." Falco was shouting now.

The vulpine finally put on a pair of clean black jeans, then swung open his door and dragged his avian friend into the room, "Alright, you wanna know the truth?"

"Well, y-yeah," he stuttered, caught off guard by the odd question. Of course he wanted to know the truth!

"Fine, it's because I don't want her getting hurt, alright? I'm kicking her off the team," Fox said.

"Well, I know Krystal wanted to tell you herself, but I want to prevent you from ruining your own life okay? Okay, Krystal's pregnant. Congrats, stock up on diapers and all that crap, bye now," Falco waved, leaving the room in an instant.

Fox was in utter shock, he was a father? He sank to his bed, his face and fur drained of their color, and he began to shake. Seemingly out of nowhere he began to laugh, an abnormally large smile plastered on his face. He ran out of the room in a flash, grabbing a small black box from his dresser and stuffing it into his pocket in the process. Their was a blur of chestnut fur as Fox made his way down the hallways, laughing all the way and almost running down many of his friends. He made a sharp left turn at the end of one of the hallways, whizzing past his blue-feathered avian friend on his way to the docking bay. When Fox ran by Falco, laughing and shouting "I'm gonna have a kit!", the bird smiled; he saved his best friend from ruining his own life. Sure, he'd have to deal with Krystal nagging him about telling Fox, but it would be worth it in the long run. It just had to be worth it. Fox ran as fast as he could towards the door of the docking bay, only to realize that Falco probably didn't get the chance to tell her to go there yet. So, he skidded to a stop and headed to the blue vixen's room. That, however, was not necessary. For the vixen in question was standing in the kitchen a few feet from where he was standing. He stumbled over his own feet as he made the sudden stop-and-go over to the kitchen, but regained his balance and trapped Krystal in a sudden hug.

"I heard the news. When did you find out?" Fox questioned, loosening his grip on the vixen.

"What?" she replied, cocking her head to the side, not phased by the spontaneous bear hug.

"The baby!" Fox shouted in glee.

"Oh what the he-how do you know?" Krystal fumed, "Was it Falco?"

Fox nodded, "Yeah, common lets sit down," he led Krystal over to the kitchen's table and sat her down in one of the chairs.

"I told him not to tell," she said crossing her arms over her chest.

"That doesn't matter! Were gonna have a kit!" Fox was still overly excited.

"Calm down, Fox, it's gonna take awhile you know," she said, pushing him into a chair across from her.

Fox took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds before releasing the air and calming down, "Alright, I'm all good," he said, opening his eyes.

"Good, so I've been trying to figure out what we should do for the next few months, you know?" Krystal said, propping her head up with her arm on the table.

"I think it would be best to keep it away from the press," Fox said, grabbing her other hand with both of his, "The last thing we need is a bunch of paparazzi."

Krystal nodded, "Yeah, but what about Star Fox? I won't exactly be in fighting shape in a couple months."

"I guess you should just stay on the ship then?" Fox suggested.

"What will we tell everyone when they figure out I'm not fighting?" Krystal asked.

"I dunno, give me a minute," he said, releasing her hand and leaning back in his chair. He let his head fall back over the chair so he could stare at the ceiling, and after a few minutes he snapped his fingers, "What if we just took a vacation for the next year?"

"A year long vacation?" Krystal laughed, "We could never afford that, plus, we'd have to bring the rest of the team along."

"I'll call in a few favors," Fox said, his toothy-grin returning.

"It might work, but what happens when they need our help again? It'll just end up blowing up in our faces," Krystal said.

Fox sighed, "Why so pessimistic?"

"I dunno, I guess I think things through to much," she shrugged.

"I know the feeling," Fox agreed.

The couple didn't say another word, and instead, started to plan out different solutions in their heads. An hour came close to dropping from their lives when Krystal suddenly sat up straight, the sound of her high-heel boots slamming onto the ground dancing across the metal surfaces, "What is it?" Fox questioned, worried.

"I have an idea," she stated.

"Don't keep it a secret!" Fox replied.

"We release this to the press and stay in space until the buzz is over," she said.

Fox leaned back into his chair, "Krystal, that has to be the WORST idea I've ever heard, no offense,"

"Let's see you think of something that won't blow up in our faces," the vixen fumed, "I mean I'm pregnant and we're not even married."

Fox smiled and pulled the small black box out of his pocket and flipped it open, "How about it then?"

The blue vixen's stare flashed from the box to the fox holding it, the stone on the ring was a modest size, but shocking at that. Inside the stone, which was clear, swirled a blue light, "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"It is isn't it?" the fox's face glowed with pride, "I had Tricky get it for me before we left Sauria, he trapped a bit of a Krazoa spirit in the stone somehow. I don't know how he did it, exactly, but it sure looks awesome."

She pulled the chestnut furred vulpine into a strong hug, a purr of excitement in her voice, "Yes."

** Part 2 – "We should have thought this through"**

The cockpit of the small Arwing barely allowed one being, let alone two, and was abnormally cramped. They, however, did not mind. The two animals hadn't planned out everything they did, and soon realized that Fox's arwing was close to being 'empty' on fuel. "Shoot, that's not good," the vulpine groaned, his eyes frozen on the dial in front of him, "looks like we're gonna need to find some fuel." The animal sitting on his lab nodded, looking out the tinted window of the arwing for a place to land, "We could just go back, I mean, where are we even going?"

Fox scratched his head and hummed, "We should have thought this through before we launched into space in an arwing that's close to empty on fuel."

Krystal said, "Lets head back to the Great Fox, then"

"Well, we can't, you see the ship doesn't have enough fuel to make it back," Fox laughed nervously.

"So, we're stuck floating through space is what you're saying," Krystal scoffed.

Fox cleared his throat but didn't say anything for a few more minutes, probably because he was trying to delay the inevitable, "We need to find the nearest inhabitable planet and land there."

Krystal scanned space through the arwing's window, resting her eyes on a small, pretty, yellow planet. The planet was complete with swirling blue lines going around it, along with red blotches scattered across the planet, "What about that one?"

Fox strained his neck to look to the planet, it was truly a beautiful planet, "I hope it's inhabited, I'd hate to land only to figure out that northing's down there."

Krystal closed her eyes, "I can sense a lot of activity, I guess it's inhabited."

Fox smiled, turning the arwing towards the planet, "Then we're landing."

They started their fast decent to the planet, only to have a large silver object fly past them, "What the hell was that?" Fox yelled, swerving the arwing to the right in order to avoid the object, "It looks like a giant piece of metal!"

Krystal began to rummage through a bag attached to the side of the seat, pulling two breathing apparatuses along with numerous oxygen tanks, "Guess there hostile."

Fox took a mask from Krystal and attached it to his face, then he screwed an oxygen tank into one of the tubes and attached it to his belt, "Good thing I had Slippy give me two of these things, huh?" he laughed.

"I'll say," Krystal replied, donning her own mask.

"How long do you think we can survive in space?" he asked, pulling a cord from the mask to allow the oxygen to flood his nostrils and mouth.

"I'd say at least a few minutes," Krystal replied, doing the same.

"I hope Slippy and Falco find us," Fox said, unholstering his blaster and counting the seconds it took for the flying pieces of metal to pass the ship.

"We're dead without 'em," Krystal sighed, grabbing the compact blaster she kept strapped to her thigh, "If you can't dodge something just eject us, we'll have to try and get into the atmosphere."

"No margin for error here," the vulpine sighed, "We'll have half a second at best to eject."

"I love you," Krystal said.

"Yeah, I love you too," Fox replied, a tear forming in his eye.

The couple lifted there mask for one last kiss, the knowledge that they would most likely be blown to bits fresh in their minds.

**Part 3 – Discovery**

Fox woke in a cold sweat, his body sore and his head splitting, "Where?" a brain-scorching light was hanging over him, burning his eyes and making his head pain sky-rocket.

A hand stopped him from sitting up, and pinned him to the table he was laying on, "Try not to move, Fox, you're pretty banged up."

"What?" Fox was still confused onto what was happening, one moment he was dodging flying pieces of metal in his Arwing with Krystal, and the next he's lying with his back on an uncomfortable metal slab with his whole body sore, "Krys?"

"It's Fara, just try not to think or move to much okay? You're not ready for that yet," The owner of the voice was a slender vixen, brown in color.

"Where's Krystal? She was right next to me," he said, looking around the room he was in.

"We don't know, she wasn't with you when we found you floating through space, it's possible that she went in a different direction but Corneria has half it's military looking for her, not to mention that Falco's working his tail off. Don't worry about it okay? She'll be fine, we'll find her," Fara reassured him, stroking his head.

"Call the General, tell him Fox McCloud has an announcement to make. Go, please, do it now," Fox said, shooing Fara away and getting up from the bed. Wires were attached to his, bloody, bandaged chest and his right arm was wrapped in a cast, hanging from his neck by a sling, "Dang, I'm a righty," he groaned. His tail had been wrapped in the same bandages that his chest were in, a spot of blood sitting on the left side of it. His legs were cut and bruised, daring him to get from the bed and walk so that he could fall on his face. He did so anyway, ripping the cords and wires off of his chest, and the IV from his wrist. He took his first step forward only to be twisted around at a sudden pain in his groin. When he looked down at his body, he spotted a long tube running from his crotch, "Aw hell," he said, "I freaking hate this part." The vulpine grabbed hold of the slender tube and quickly pulled it out of his body, letting out a loud, pain-filled, howl. Once he was clear of all other wires, cords, or otherwise, he turned around and started walking once again. He stumbled towards the door with much difficulty, shoving things from his path after he used them to stabilize himself. He thankfully still had on his underpants, but he spotted his clothing sitting by the door and instantly went for them. After awhile of stumbling and falling, he reached his goal. He grabbed his shirt and put it on with much difficulty. His chest was burning and his legs shook and wobbled. He was weak and in intense pain. Once his shirt was on he put on his jeans with the same level of painstaking difficulty. He took note that they were the same clothes he had been wearing when he was attacked, and they had not been cleaned. The dark green, long sleeved, shirt had been torn and ripped, the green dyed red from blood. The shirt smelled of iron, along with his pants. His jeans had not been torn and bloodied as much, but were still in pretty bad shape. Next, he put on his socks and shoes which, surprisingly, looked fine. Spare a few drops of dried blood on his shoes. He headed for the bathroom in hopes of finding a mirror so that he could inspect his face, and was lucky enough to have the door only inches away. He placed his hand on the door knob and swung it open, causing a sharp _creek_ to sound off. When he entered, his shoes clacked against the floor, causing an echo in the large room. He felt the wall in search of the light switch, and flipped it on once he found it. The sudden brightness of the light caused Fox to clamp his eyes shut and press his palms on his temples in pain. His headache was getting worse. Once his pain slightly subsided he opened his eyes and they quickly adjusted to the bright light. He looked to the mirror to see a horrid sight, a long gash ran from the bottom of his eye to the end of his muzzle, jagged and deep along the left side of his face. Surprisingly, no one decided to stitch it up for him. There were other cuts along his face, but they didn't compare in the least, and his left eye was surrounded by a black and blue circle, causing the eye to squint and not open fully due to the swelling. He shuttered at how horrible he looked and turned on the faucet. He put his hand into the stream of water, letting it soak his fur. Happy with the ice-cold temperature, he cupped both his hands under the running liquid until they were full of water, then, he splashed it onto his face. He shook from the sudden shock of the water, but then grabbed a towel and dried his face and hands, being careful when drying near the large cut. Once he was done in the bathroom he wandered out into the hall where hundreds of doors were scattered across the walls. That was the first time he realized that he was in a hospital, and not in Fara's own residence. All at once the hospital hit him, launching the horrid smell at his nostrils, the pained groans of the patients at his ears, along with the beeping of every sort of monitor. The depressingly plain gray of any and all surface were just that, depressing, and the doctors and nurses looked sympathetically at him, frozen in there steps. He hated it, "The hell are you looking at?" he shouted, causing everyone to jump back to their jobs, rushing away from him with their heads hung. Fox began to look around for a map, only to find that there was one right next to him. He scanned the thing for the big red 'you are here' dot and found he was on the first floor. 'Awesome,' he thought to himself, 'I hate being on the top floor.' Smiling, he began to limp and stumble to the exit, surprising everyone he walked by. As he neared the exit he was intercepted by Fara, the fennec fox, who was returning from her phone call.

"You're speaking in an hour, common let's get you some fresh clothes," She said, putting his arm around her shoulders to help him walk.

"No, I want to be there before the press," Fox said, walking out of the door. Now they were in the hospital's large parking lot.

"Fine, but I'm driving," she sighed.

"My license was provoked," Fox chuckled.

"Never stopped you from flying," countered Fara.

"I never said I lost my flying license," Fox smiled.

"My car's over there, the black one," Fara pointed to a line of cars.

Fox looked to where she was pointing, only to find that there were numerous black cars in the group, "Be more specific."

"Just follow me," Fara scoffed.

Fara led Fox to a black car, and surprisingly, it was an Aston Martin One-77, "Fara what the hell? This is like a two million dollar car!" Fox yelled, his eyes opening wide when she got into the driver's seat.

"My line of work pays off," she shouted from inside the car, which was now started.

"What do you do?" Fox asked, getting into the passenger seat.

"I'm the general's personal doctor," she smiled.

"You'd think he would have payed Star Fox a bit more for saving the planet."

"He throws in an extra million 'cause he likes me," she said.

"Maybe I should send Krystal to med school," Fox said.

"Maybe," Fara replied.

"So, anyway, lets go," Fox said, barley able to get on his seatbelt.

Fara nodded, switching the car into reverse and backing out of the parking spot, "This thing goes zero to sixty in three-and-a-half seconds," she smiled. She slammed her foot on the acceleration and the car launched from its spot, speeding out of the parking lot and onto the highway, towards Corneria City's G-Zero stadium where the press would be gathered in a few minutes. They barreled down the empty highway at a whopping one-hundred and fifty-three miles per hour, causing Fox to slowly sink into his seat.

"How fast can this thing go?" Fox asked, the car surprisingly not drowning out his voice..

"220 miles per hour," Fara replied, smiling, "worth every penny."

"Why are there no car's on the highway?" Fox continued his questioning, readjusting his seatbelt.

"I had the police clear it so that we could get to the stadium faster," Fara smiled.

"Wow, uh, good thinking," he said.

Fara jammed her foot to the floor, causing the car to jerk once again and speed up, nearing it's top speed. Fox began to get nauseous, being in the passenger seat, but Fara seemed fine. The car flew down the road, not slowing down as it neared the stadium, and Fox began yelling, "Fara? You can stop the car now!" no success, "You're gonna kill us!" he shouted. Fara rolled her eyes and slowly depressed the brake, causing the car to slow to a measly ten miles per hour creep, "Happy?" she asked.

"I feel sick," he said, resting his head on the headrest and closing his eyes.

"That's normal the first few times you're in the passenger seat," she shrugged, "you'll get used to it."

"We there yet?" he asked, his nausea beginning to subside.

"Yeah but don't get out, okay?" Fara said, pinning Fox to his seat with her arm, "The press is here already."

"Great," he groaned.

The stadium was gigantic, rows and rows of bleachers circled the large track where G-Zero racers competed. A large stage was set up in the middle of the oval track, and numerous military ranks guarded it. The stage had curtains on both sides of it where the stairs were.

Fara carefully drove the car through the giant crowd of news vans and cameras, white flashes blinding the two poor animals. Getting nowhere, Fara suddenly brought the car to a stop, put it into neutral, and slammed on the acceleration. This caused her car's tires to burn on the asphalt, producing a horrid odor of burning rubber. The animals surrounding the car instantly backed away, snapping pictures all the while. In one fluid motion, Fara shifted the car into drive and did a one-hundred and eighty degree turn, launching the car back towards the highway. Although not at a super fast speed, the sudden movement of the car caused a loud screech as it moved from its parked spot. The driver made a sharp right turn to the other side of the stadium in an attempt to avoid the paparazzi. Luckily, it worked, and the car was able to slip through a hole in a police barricade a few feet away.

"You ready for this, Foxy?" Fara asked, twisting the key out from the ignition.

"As I'll ever be," Fox sighed.

Fara got out of the car with ease, but Fox's injuries finally caught up to him and he couldn't move from his spot. Fara sent two officers to help Fox out of the car and up onto the stage. Fox, however refused to let them help him up the stairs to backstage. He grabbed hold of the railing and began to slowly climb the large steps, sweat beading at his face. All the animals in the area froze in place to watch the struggling vulpine, but no one did anything until he collapsed on one of the stairs, his chest rising rapidly. Fara rushed up the stairs, before anyone else had the chance to react, and helped Fox to his feet.

"I need to walk out on the stage alone," he panted.

"Just let me help you up the stair, okay?" Fara said, pulling him from his spot.

"I'm having second thoughts on this," Fox sighed, putting his arm around Fara's shoulder for support.

Fara struggled to get Fox up another few steps, "Too late for that, Foxy."

"Yeah, I know," the vulpine replied, climbing the last step, "Alright, let go, I need to walk out alone."

"Why?" Fara asked.

"I-I don't know," he stammered, stumbling out onto the stage. Flashes instantly illuminated the already bright stage, and the crowd roared with questions, once Fox was in view of the news vans and reporters.

"He has to prove to himself that he isn't helpless," a mystery voice came from behind Fara, and a paw grabbed her shoulder.

Fara turned around in surprise, but calmed down once she figured out who it was, "Hey, Katt."

"How's he holding up?" the pink feline asked, looking at the staggering animal.

"Pretty well, all things considered," Fara sighed, frowning, "He can barley walk, though, and he's jumping into everything."

"That's Fox for you," Katt laughed, stepping up to the edge of the steps, where the stage started and the curtain ended, "He's going to push his body over the edge one of these days."

"Yeah, I just hope it's not anytime soon," Fara replied, staying in her spot.

**Author's Note:**

**That's it for the prologue, the actually "Announcement" that Fox makes will come in the next one-shot. All I'm going to release is that if I make a sequel to Announcement, it'll be rated M.**

**Anyway, Fox's announcement won't be the only thing in the next one-shot, I'm going to throw in a plot twist and a cliffhanger that would let me write a sequel if I feel up to it.**

**Feel free to leave your critique in the reviews so I can become a better author. Because praise is always nice, but it doesn't do much in terms of getting better.**

**I hope you enjoyed,**

**R&R**

"**PLACEHOLDER"**

**-Ben540-**

**Yeah, it's a placeholder.**


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